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This is a thread for positive things we see about Valpo students, teams, faculty, programs, etc.

For anybody else who is a higher ed geek, this recent four-part series by Freakonomics was interesting. Episodes 1 and 4 are probably most relevant to Valpo.

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/what-exactly-is-college-for/
We think of them as intellectual enclaves and the surest route to a better life. But U.S. colleges also operate like firms, trying to differentiate their products to win market share and prestige points. In the first episode of a special series, we ask what our chaotic system gets right — and wrong. (Part 1 of "Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.")

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-university-of-impossible-to-get-into/
America's top colleges are facing record demand. So why don't they increase supply? (Part 2 of "Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.")

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/i-dont-think-the-country-is-turning-away-from-college/
Enrollment is down for the first time in memory, and critics complain college is too expensive, too elitist, and too politicized. The economist Chris Paxson — who happens to be the president of Brown University — does not agree. (Part 3 of "Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.")

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/what-is-the-future-of-college-and-does-it-have-room-for-men/
Educators and economists tell us all the reasons college enrollment has been dropping, especially for men, and how to stop the bleeding. (Part 4 of "Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.")

This chart has been getting shared around lots in the last year since COVID/enrollment has exacerbated the economics for so many schools.

What do you guys make of our investment in "instructional wages per full time student" being so low? I know Valpo has fallen behind other schools in terms of investment in the academic side of things, and our outlook here is not looking so great. If VU isn't devoting much of the pie to academic programming/faculty compensation/teaching & research, etc, then where is the money going? Is it all just debt financing, or what do you think?

https:  //docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CUs3HrqstC2oV3CF3_di4yW6Y4K_CIrUJNEEHCCKo7A/edit#gid=0

(remove spaces so link works)